Tyrus Recalls Getting Advice From Dusty Rhodes On His Funkasaurus Gimmick

Tyrus worked with Dusty Rhodes on making his Funkasaurus gimmick work in WWE, and he recently recalled the advice the late legend gave him. The former Brodus Clay played the Funkasaurus gimmick starting in 2012 until he was released in 2014, and he looked back at coming up with the character on a recent episode of the Two-Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast.

“The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, when he took me under his wing,” he said (per Fightful). “The reason why he took me under his wing is because my mouth was as big as his. It (the gimmick) got thrown to me. I was like, ‘Can I go to Dusty for a week or two and kind of figure it out?’ They said, ‘Sure.'”

He continued, “Then I got with Dusty and he was like, ‘You just got your mind, so you got to do it. Like, I would do it when they put the polka dots on me. Did I complain? I had a family to feed, so I did it.’ He’s like, ‘So they’re putting you in a red tracksuit. So what are you going to do with it? Are you that good? Are you so good no matter what they throw at you, you make it work? Or are you one-dimensional and all you can do is be a heel?’ He threw the challenge, and I accepted it. Dusty, rest his soul, if he was here, would take full credit for everything he did, he would literally say, ‘You owe me a check, Brodus. You should be sending me a check every week because I gave you gold, I gave you jewels, and you’re doing something with it.’ As he said, I painted my canvas. I still continue to do that.”

Tyrus is now in the NWA, where he is currently the World Television Champion.